Sarah Harding, British actress and member of popular girl band 'Girls Aloud', passed away on 5 September after a year-long battle with breast cancer.
The singer's mother took to her daughter's Instagram late on Sunday evening to share the news saying, 'she fought so strongly from her diagnosis till her last day.'
Harding was only 39 years old.
Sarah Harding had announced last year that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer and that she was undergoing treatment.
In her Instagram post, Harding's mother thanks her fans for their "kind support over the past year". Adding that the singer died peacefully in the morning.
"It meant the world to Sarah and it gave her great strength and comfort to know she was loved. I know she won't want to be remembered for her fight against this terrible disease - she was a bright shining star and I hope that's how she can be remembered instead,"Sarah Harding's mother in an instagram post
Speaking of her diagnosis last year, Harding had confided that her doctors had warned her she didn't have much time left.
"I'm at a stage now where I don't know how many months I have left. Who knows, maybe I'll surprise everyone, but that's how I'm looking at things," she had said.
Apart from her successful stint in the popular British girl group, 'Girls Aloud', Harding also appeared in several films and reality TV shows.
Breast Cancer: Know The Early Signs
Breast cancer can strike at any age, but the risk is higher in women over the age of 45.
For this reason, doctors and experts advice routine yearly monograms after the age of 45.
The place to start, though, at any age, is self examinations.
Some early signs of breast cancer to look out for are,
A new lump or mass in the breast, armpit or base of your neck which doesn’t move away from the wall of the chest. It does not always have to be painful
Swelling
Skin irritation or dimpling
Breast or nipple pain
Nipple retraction (turning inward)
Redness, scaliness, or thickening of the nipple or breast skin
Nipple discharge (other than breast milk)
Swollen lymph nodes around the collar bone or under the arm
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